“I’m not asking you about the others. We are talking about the accused currently in front of you, present in the courtroom and whether you confirm that these are exactly the terrorists who attempted to hijack the plane on which you were one of the passengers.”
“It was them, sir, I can’t lie.”
“Can you confirm that their armed attempt to hijack the plane caused fatalities?’
“Of course there were fatalities, both dead and wounded and some with broken arms and legs. When the plane started to fall down, the people were being mashed like…”
“Can you tell us which of the accused in particular were armed and with what types of weapons the hijackers shot at the passengers?”
“I don’t know what they were holding, sir, I’m a peasant and don’t know about such things, but when we landed and the troops were shooting at us from the outside with submachine-guns…”
“So, you confirm that the accused were armed?”
“Them? Of course, who has ever heard of a hijacking of a plane without weapons?”
“Can you tell us specifically whose shots were followed by the deaths, or bodily injuries, of any of the passengers?”
“How can I, sir? There was a lot of shooting and I was lying on the floor the whole time and didn’t even lift my head up, while the shooting went on.”
“And when the shooting stopped, you sat up, and probably saw the armed people—those now sitting in front of you.”
“I sat up, but I couldn’t stand up. I felt really bad and my mouth was very dry.”
“And you probably saw one of them, with a weapon in his hand?”
“Yes, sir, I saw him and I remember well that it was him, because I’d seen him on TV, but I don’t remember the name of that movie.”
“Do you remember the weapon? What kind of a weapon did the terrorist have in his hand?”
“He had a bomb in one hand, sir, but not like in the war movies. He had a round bomb in one hand…”
“And in the other?”
“In the other? Should I say it, sir?”
“Yes, you must say everything that you know and remember, that is exactly why you are here.”
“I don’t know sir, if I say it, maybe I’ll spoil something.”
“It is vital for the investigation of the case and for the court that every detail is revealed.”
“So, should I say it, sir?”
“Yes, please tell the court what the accused had in his other hand.”
“He had a glass in the other hand.”
“What glass?”
“It was an ordinary glass. He was bringing water for whoever felt bad.”
The judge was caught unawares by the testimony. There was an unnaturally long pause before his next question.
“And then?”
“And then he brought some water for me too, and I felt a little better.”
“And then?”
“What then, sir? If they die, that’ll be a shame too…”
The voice of the elderly witness began to quiver, and then a tear rolled down his cheek and then he started loudly crying without restraint. The judge announced a break.
The End
It was no wonder that the elderly witness was not brought back after the break.
Although two people had mentioned death earlier that day, the severe verdict read out by the judge came as a shock not only for the accused and their parents, but even for the KGB officers present at the triaclass="underline" Tina was sentenced to fourteen years in prison, the rest of them—to death by shooting.
Immediately after the verdict was announced, the accused were led out of the courtroom. Gega searched for his mother, who stood motionless. She only saw the back of her son as he was taken somewhere. She refused to believe it was true, that he would be executed.
None of Gega’s friends believed it either, and they still believed there was a last chance to save them—a pardon that the government sometimes granted to death row convicts. It was now necessary to write a letter that would be signed by the most reputable Georgians of the time. It had to be addressed to the authorities with an appeal to spare the lives of the young people who had gone astray. Several people drafted the letter contained and secured the signatures, but they were not enough. They then began to search for help from well-known and highly respected public figures all over Georgia.
Since it was the middle of August, most of them were vacationing on the beaches of the Black Sea in Abkhazia. Gega’s friends and some volunteers combed the beaches looking for sunbathing representatives of the Georgian intelligentsia, beach by beach. They talked to them in whispers on the waterfront. Some intellectuals were motivated to sign the appeal because they were deeply moved with sympathy for Gega’s fate. Others had to be secretly told that the idea of the letter came from the government itself to encourage their support.
The appeal for pardon was to be sent to Moscow, since it was believed, sincerely and naively, that the decision to sentence the hijackers to death had been taken in Moscow, and that the local Georgian government only carried out orders from Russia. In reality, everything was the other way round. When Georgian authorities discovered that several Georgian scientists, directors or actors who either cooperated with them, or were loyal to them, had signed the appeal they were indignant. They worried about the reaction of Kremlin, who would undoubtedly be concerned that the local intelligentsia was so openly and boldly defending anti-Soviet individuals. It could be viewed in Moscow as a sign that the government of Georgia did not have sufficient control of its intelligentsia. The Georgian Central Committee Secretaries were incensed that a group they had given apartments, cars and summerhouses would betray them and sign a pardon without seeking approval.
After the verdict was passed on August 13th, a TV special entitled The Bandits, was aired ten days later. Over the ten days between the verdict and the inaugural broadcast, material from the trial was edited in such a way that the viewers would not have even the slightest doubt they were looking at hardened criminals, cynical murderers and bona fide terrorists who deserved to be executed.
There were, however, details that caused certain disagreement among the filmmakers. For instance, there was a necessity to include the Iverieli brothers’ motivation for leaving the USSR. According to the investigation, their lifestyle was utterly immoral; full of sexual adventures and their real objective was to continue these exploits in the west. In truth, the brothers hoped to open their own clinic. This was not included in the film for fear it would not sound plausible and could antagonize the public.
The film also included other small details to illustrate the heartlessness of the hijackers. The group was accused of denying passengers the right to use the toilet on board the plane. In reality, the hijackers only appealed to passengers to remain seated when the plane was under heavy gunfire from the outside.
Several members of the intelligentsia, who had signed the pardon appeal, withdrew their signatures of support. Those who did not were summoned to the Central Committee and forced to withdraw support after threats and other methods of influence were issued. Some had to not only take back their signatures, but also write letters of explanation that apologized for the mistake they had committed against the government and the Communist Party. Yet, there were others who sacrificed their privileges and refused to revoke their signatures, maintaining their opinion that Gega and his friends should be pardoned. The wait for any pardon would be in vain. The authorities had made their decision.
Public opinion considered the decision so ruthless that they started to make up legends about Shevardnadze’s cruelty. This was one of the only means of revenge for the Georgian public back then. There was a story about how Shevardnadze summoned Paata and Kakhaberber’s father to talk about the death of his son. Whether the following story was true or not, it accurately reflects the pervasive public attitude at the time.